Trailin’ Cattle
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This week I finished checking the fences on the mountain and prepared to start trailing cattle to their summer pasture. The trailing process is the longest time of the year for my host and his family, including leaving the ranch at 4:30AM with horses tacked and loaded and lunches packed. This has been an everyday job starting Wednesday and will continue until the cows reach their summer pasture south of Tensleep. We are moving the cattle about 30 miles total and it will take about 10 days to complete.
The cattle we are moving are between 5 and 10 years old so they have done this trip a time or two in their life. We start by gathering the cows and calves together in the pasture and by the time they are collected, most have already started walking down the trail. There are established cow trails from previous years that the cattle will follow as well as following the road in some parts. The cattle “string out” along the trail, meaning they walk down the trail in a line formation with one or two trying to go out on the sides. The hardest part of trailing is moving the calves. They are this year’s calves and are young and don’t know what is happening. This causes them to get confused easily and want to get to their mothers. Some mothers will stay close to their calves while some mothers walk off without them. The calves’ group toward the back of the bunch and call for their moms who are sometimes very far ahead. The calves will try to turn back to find their moms, not knowing the moms are ahead of them. That is where we come in, usually 2 to 3 people on horseback will walk close to the calves to keep them going forward and following the group. However, our best efforts are bested sometimes as a calf will get by and run back.
When this happens, we try to identify their tag number so we can turn it’s mom back later to go find it. If we can’t get the number, when we get to the water destination for the day, we will wait and see which cow is persistent in going back. Most of the time, the most persistent cow trying to get back is the lost calves mom wanting to go find it. We are moving about 350 head of cows and a couple bulls, with each of those cows having a calf. I have enjoyed learning about the best ways to move cattle and how to be positioned in the group to ensure a smooth walk.
I have wondered about the difference between trailing cows to summer pastures, instead of trucking them. Trucking them would be faster and require less labor, however, would increase stress for the cows and calves. Trailing them includes long hard days, requiring quite a few hands for the amount of cattle we are moving, but is more economical and there is a cultural feeling for me while trailing. Every rancher does things differently, and one of my host’s neighbors trucked his cattle to new pasture while he prefers to trail. I plan to continue to learn about the pros and cons of each moving tactic and why people choose the method they do.
Moving forward, I will continue to trail cows this week until we reach our destination. I am enjoying the process of trailing and learning about the ins and outs of it. I like getting to know mu host’s more as there is a bit of time during the day for chatting while following the cows. I have also gotten to improve my riding skills everyday which has been a joy in itself.
Submitted by: Ronnie Owens
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
